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Wolf Pack's Top 25 questions: Can the O-line live up to Union’s lofty standard?

Each day until the Nevada football team's season opener against UCLA on Aug. 31, I'll discuss one interesting question facing the Wolf Pack in 2013.

Today's question: Can the offensive line live up to Union’s lofty standard?

Best-case scenario: The Wolf Pack offensive line, still carrying the name The Union, typically puts two players on the all-conference team every season and serves as the heartbeat of the team. In 2013, the group enters the season as Nevada’s biggest positional question mark. Tackle Joel Bitonio, a senior, is an excellent player and Matt Galas, a junior, is an above-average center. The other three starting sports are tossups. The versatile Connor Talbott, who has battled injuries, should get a starting job. The success of the line might hinge on JC transfers Braxton Isaac and Rogelio Moreno, who have both practiced with the first team. Nevada needs those two to compete for jobs. If they’re legit, the unit could approach the lofty standard set over the past decade.

Worst-case scenario: An injury or down years by Bitonio or Galas would doom this unit. There’s not a lot of margin for error here, with little depth behind an already uncertain line after the losses of all-MWC players Jeff Nady and Chris Barker. Despite the change in play-calling duties from Chris Ault to Nick Rolovich, the Wolf Pack will still be a run-first team. But that will only work if the offensive line is up to snuff. The offense hinges on that unit and it faces strong defenses at UCLA and Florida State in the first three weeks. Quarterback Cody Fajardo could take a beating in those two games if the line isn’t ready for primetime. If that’s the case, it will be nearly impossible for Nevada’s offense to reach its lofty standard in 2013 despite having a good group of skill-position players.